Who Invented the Thermos?

Thermos, also known as vacuum flask, is used primarily to store and preserve the hotness of liquid. With the help of this device, you can easily enjoy cups of coffee, tea or other hot beverages almost anytime and anywhere. For years, it has become one of the highly important appliances in many homes all over the world. Aside from these facts, it is also good to know its history including who invented the thermos.

The Invention of the Thermos

Who invented the thermos? In 1892, Scottish chemist and physicist James Dewar invented the vacuum flask, which is also known today as the thermos. At some point, it was also referred to as Dewar flask. In 1904, Thermos GmbH was founded. The company was credited as the first business to release vacuum flasks commercially. Because of its popularity, people started to refer to vacuum flask as thermos.

Additional Facts and Other Interesting Details

At the 1909 Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, the thermos became the recipient of the Grand Prize Award, thanks to its revolutionary design. In 1911, the first ever machine-made glass filler was produced. In 1923, the company introduced the Thermos Jumbo Jug, which was a big insulated food jar. In 1928, the company came up with an innovative vacuum-insulated Pyrex glass vessel.

In 1939, this product played a major role in World War II as the members of the British military forces used thermos as part of their combat gear. It was also used in atomic energy laboratories during that time. In 1957, the popularity of this product reached greater heights. Since then, it has been known commercially all over the world. At that point, it was also used to transport different kinds of important materials like insulin, tissues as well as blood plasma.

Today, there are different types of thermos to choose from, namely plastic, metal or glass. All of these usually have hollow walls. With the use of vacuum to insulate heat, heat transfer through convection or conduction can be prevented. It also has a reflective coating such as silver, which reduces radiative heat loss significantly. It is important for a flask to have a certain kind of opening, the purpose of which is for the removal and addition of contents. Furthermore, it makes use of plastics as stopper in order to maintain the vacuum.

Not only is the thermos or vacuum flask used to store beverages, but also other elements like nitrogen and oxygen. Likewise, it is used to contain other expensive and important items such as liquid helium.